Ema's Insights

  On the first day of class, I didn’t even know what the word Paralympics meant. Over the course of the semester, I have learned so much about disabilities and sports, and how much they mean to the athletes that play them. Disabled athletes. on the first day of class, I didn’t even know what the word Paralympics meant. Over the course of the semester, I have learned so much about disabilities and sports, and how much they mean to the athletes that play them. Disabled athletes enable bodied athletes all have one thing in common, and that’s to play the sport they love. At the beginning of the class, I always thought that things like the Special Olympics in the Paralympics were just shows put on to make disabled people feel included when in reality these games are here so that disabled athletes have the opportunity to show and perfect their craft to the rest of the world. These games are here so that disabled athletes can show the rest of the world that they aren’t just a statistic ...

  After doing a lot of research and looking around I noticed that there aren’t any programs in our area directed at children with hearing or visual impairments to be able to compete in sports. I looked on Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook trying to find programs in my area that would be able to cater to a child with visual or hearing impairments who wish to play sports. I have a little cousin who is a sophomore in high school and she attends Absegami. Her name is Emily and she went deaf in 2008 from a severe bacterial meningitis infection that ended up taking her hearing. Although she isn’t a very big sports girl she does participate in clubs and certain athletics at Absegami High School along with able-bodied athletes. I asked her a couple of questions in regard to her sports career and how she was able to get on the team with her disability. She explained to me that, even though they don’t offer anything directly for her disability, she was able to sit down with the sports, Director...

I know that there is a lot of debate on pushback when discussing the separation of the Special Olympics and the Paralympics. I think that it is okay that the games are kept separate. initially, that sounds like bad writing but I have a reason why I think that the game should stay separate. The Special Olympics and the Paralympic Games both have their own set of classifications double the opportunities for athletes to be able to get into a sport that they want to play. combining games, merging all of the sports together would also mean merging the classifications. Not only with these major issues and controversy within the games, but it would create a lot of confusion for the people who are trying to figure out where to put certain people the Paralympic games do have an opportunity for people with intellectual abilities to test into a classification for a sport that they offer, so it doesn’t mean that everyone with intellectual abilities is completely cut off from competing in the Paral...

       The ban of Russia and Belarus from the past few Paralympics is a topic that I agree and disagree with on different levels. I understand that the IPC has gone through a lot to keep its games up and running since COVID-19 in 2021. They are trying to continue to do anything to keep the games going. From a political standpoint, I understand why the IPC is trying to avoid further conflict by allowing Russia and Belarus to continue to represent their country in the Paralympic Games with everything that’s going on. As long as there is active conflict or war going on between Russia and Belarus, I do think that the IPC is making the correct decision to not allow them to represent their countries in the Paralympic games. I don’t think that they should remove all Russians and Belarus and NPCs from being able to participate in future events. I liked the idea that they talked about in the Paralympic article, where they discussed that Russian and Belarus athletes will be al...

     I understand the idea of classification for disabled people who wish to participate in sports. Not only is it for their safety to make sure that they are getting into a sport that their disability can handle but it isn't going to to further any issues related to their disability. Secondly, the different classification and levels that the athlete is placed under is to make sure that they are competing with other athletes with the same or similar disabilities to ensure there is somewhat similar competition. I do believe that regardless of the disability, as long as the athlete is physically able to perform into a classification they should be able to qualify. They do have 10 different classifications for athletes to be able to test into. In the video for the New Zealand Paralympics, they were able to show how these athletes get tested for classification and I agree with this process in order to ensure the athletes' safety and make sure that they are going to be pu...